"It's More Than a Mark" | Pastor Michael Kelly

but they your tiny badge or me Oh but it's everything they want to be seen but they don't want to with me it takes everything there's your head yes your mom he wants it all today surrender your will to his will him your life today he wants your everything don't hold back to anything he wants your all today you yes for this week I've enjoyed having one of my sons in the ministry pastor Kelly to those who might be visiting is this senior pastor of the Mount Rubidoux Church in the Greater Los Angeles area I remember when he was taking preaching from me at the University down the street the first time I heard him preach he told you that I graded him down because he wasn't dressed properly the fact is it was the only thing I could find wrong with him I knew instantly here was an anointed man of God as a student and what the Lord has done with his ministry since then has been no surprise to his former professor but we're more now than just professor in student we're friends I love him dearly and I from time to time look in on him at his church to make sure he's keeping the right foot and the left foot in front of each other but I'm not worried about that we've been blessed this week by his ministry put your hands together and give praise to God and so as he comes before us again today I know that you'll be searching God to receive what God has prepared for you and Mike god bless you man it always is an honor to be at one of the places that my professor father ministry pastor writers and pastoring he can call me the week before he needs me and you know he knows how come you know it's one thing to have a professor it's another thing to have somebody who's personally vested in your ministry and just to add to just some of what pastor you know Wright has said I remember I was there in his class and he came to me and asked me to help him as a community pray Center to help with the youth there and while that was something that he asked to help him in that actually developed me and so while other students were still figuring out certain things about ministry I was able to have real-life practice at doing that ever since I was a freshman in college and so everything that I've been able to learn and been able to implement all different kinds of ideas I really do owe to you pastor and I want to thank you very much for that one of the things that impresses me is that's an older man somebody ought to say Amen but man you know nobody in the work can outwork him and so you all are just blessed to to have him I'm blessed to have you and I want to say just thank you so much for everything that you've been to me personally and professionally up to this point I just praise God for you to praise God for you and I hope you all know that you have one of the gyms in our church that is a bedrock and why we are where we are today I want to jump right into the word and I'm not going to lie it is going to challenge you today is that okay body we were going to be challenged from God's Word and so I would love it if you would turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 14 as we get ready to wrap this thing up and discuss a well talked about topic when we deal with the book of Revelation but maybe a different approach that the Holy Spirit wants us to go through Revelation chapter 14 starting at verse 9 and reading all the way to verse 10 and here is what the Bible says Revelation chapter 14 verses 9 and 10 then another angel a third one followed them saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the Beast and His image and receives a mark in his forehead or in his hand he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed out in full strength in the cup of his anger and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the lamb your person God's help we want to preach under the subject more than a mark more than a mark let's go ahead and pray father not another second or an hour an or another day but at this moment with my arms outstretched I need you to make a way as you have done so many times before and God you've done it through a window or an open door so father Here I am I stretched my hands today and I pray that you would come rescue me because I need you right away now spirit of the Living God fall afresh on us is our prayer in Jesus name they all got shown to say amen amen this year this church is on a journey through the book of Revelation we've just been spending more time throughout the week on Sunday night Monday night Wednesday and of course Friday and today and we'll be throughout the rest of the year and if it's one thing that I appreciate that has been throughout the years of my growing up inside of this church that has been missed is when you think of the book of Revelation you do think of beasts coming out of the sea you think of marks on people's hands and foreheads fire and brimstone seals being opened up boils and sores all of those kinds of things and lost the book of Revelation is the real reason we have the book of Revelation because John tells us in the first chapter in the third verse this is the revelation of Jesus Christ I want to make it very clear that we sometimes as a church have not approached revelation the way we should we teach about Jesus in the first lesson and then we don't hear about him until lesson 14 but I want to let you know that the book is all about Jesus every nook and cranny inside of the book of Revelation is about Jesus every prophecy is about Jesus every escape from any deception is about Jesus everything in the book of Revelation centers in Jesus his gospel his death his resurrection his coming again it is all about Jesus unfortunately sometimes it's a challenge to find Jesus in the book of Revelation but if you look carefully you'll find your Savior but in Revelation chapter 14 we just learned earlier this week that in Revelation 13 and 12 there's this war in heaven and John sees all of these these crazy images of peace coming about the sea and Antichrist and all these different kinds of stuff and we had to ask ourselves the question how do we as God's children in Revelation 14 as John looks after he sees this amazing imagery of small and great rich and poor bowing down and worshiping the image of the Beast but John then looks in chapter 14 and behold the Bible says that he sees a lamb standing on Mount Zion but not just a lamb by himself but a lamb with a number of people 144,000 and so the question was with all of the issues that were taking place in Revelation 13 how are there still people standing with Jesus in Revelation 14 how do they stand how did they get there and we discovered what our answer was in this first angels message the way that they are able to stand and deal with all of that stuff is the everlasting gospel that's God's answer to the Beast that's God's answer to all of this confusion that will take place in the last days his answer is the ever lasting gospel but then after this angel who comes carrying this everlasting well the Bible tells us that a second angel comes except this time the angel doesn't call for us to accept necessarily anything but he comes with a very specific announcement here's what it says in Revelation 14 and verse 8 and another angel a second one follows saying fallen fallen is Babylon the Great fallen and fallen is Babylon the Great the repeated verb fallen in the Greek is in a horas which is announcing a future event you also with me so this this this this announcement is announcing a future event but the futuristic use of the ARS in the Hebrew prophecy is known as what is called the prophetic perfect in which a future event is described with the past tense as if it's already occurred you also with me so they're saying Babylon is fallen is fallen and although it's a future event the angel speaks of a future event as if it is already taking place now okay let me help y'all out a little bit one of the greatest basketball players of all time is Michael Jordan notice I say one of the greatest because there's somebody who just retired not too long ago we might be able to make that argument for but Michael Jordan in one particular game it is recorded that before the ball was about the jump ball was about to go when the game was about to start Michael Jordan walks up and there was this young man who they had been told in the papers who was new to that team I can't remember which team it was they were playing he was new to this team and he was assigned to check Michael Jordan you know when the jump ball is about to go everybody's kind of leaning over and getting their positions and might just kind of whispers on him I just dropped 45 on you the the brother looked confused and he said what do you mean you've you just dropped 45 on me of the game hasn't even started Mike said I just dropped 45 on you the ball goes up and at the end of that game throughout that game Mike ends up with 45 points as a matter of fact he could have gotten more but he wanted his prophecy to be true in other words here's what was very interesting about what Michael Jordan did he spoke to something as if it had already taken place although it had not yet already happened I don't know about you but I think as a people of God we need to learn to embrace the prophetic perfect that needs to take place in our lives we need to speak those things that are not as if they were for there is someone in this place today that needs a job and I need you to speak as if that job is already yours there is somebody today who has been promised companionship I need you to speak that prophetic perfect knowing that even if it's not here you ought to speak as if it is here there are people who have told you you are not going to amount to anything but you need to speak over your life that you will become something even though your situation does not look like anything if you have dreams today speak those dreams into existence because here's what I'm finding if God has told you that it's gonna happen even if it hasn't happened yet its insurers already being done I'll never forget Pastor Chef you Laurie I got a call from from his wife letting me know very clearly they Keith you need to get a hold of my husband she had gone into premature labor and and the doctors were saying all different kinds of things about what his child was not going to be in what she was not going to be able to do and I love when I saw him passing a law he would speak to her and speak over her as if she had already been healed and now today when the doctor said the baby would not talk she is talking when the doctor said the baby would not walk she is walking but I believe some of that has to do with the fact that Seth embraced the prophetic perfect of his life he heard what God said and he said if God said it although it hasn't happened yet it is as good as done and the problem with so many of us is we're waiting for it to be done before we believe and what God is waiting for us to do is to understand something that's taking place with Babylon no it has not fallen yet but if I said it's gonna fall one day it shall fall so this angel declares that Babylon has fallen right here in Revelation 14 it's the first mention that we find really of Babylon in the book of Revelation and the theological in time Babylon the Great in the New Testament is rooted follow me now in the role of ancient Babylon in the Old Testament Babylon I need you all to hear me very carefully on this is a religious political power opposing God in oppressing his people did y'all catch that it is a religious political power opposing God and oppressing his people now remember in Genesis 11 verses 1 through 9 the building of the Tower of Babel there were a group of people who united together and here's what they wanted to do they created a system that would allow them to reach to God and take the place of God follow me carefully a group of people created a system a means by which they could get to and take the very place of God they wanted to go to the heavens and make a name for themselves above God they wanted to be greater than who God was as a matter of fact they were the center of all attention they wanted to be the center and no longer did they want to be God second Thessalonians chapter 2 verses one through four tells us this turn with me there 2nd 2nd thessalonians excuse me chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 i'm sure if we're gonna get that on the screen second thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 i'll just read it to you in your hearing here is what the bible says now we request you brethren with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or disturbed either by a spirit or message or a letter as it is from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come let no one in any way deceive you for it will come is where it will not come excuse me unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction watch what it says in verse 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God this idea of this system of Babylon has this particular approach to it we want to take the place of God we're more important than God now here is a common mistake when we think about this idea of Babylon too many of us have looked at Babylon as a place we've looked at Babylon as in some cases other denominations that don't believe as we believe that don't carry this endtime message and then the call is that they need to come out of that place so y'all see with me so far can we be real that's that's the way I was brought up in and that's the way that out was taught but I want you to look at Revelation chapter 18 verses one through three here's what the Bible says in Revelation 18 verses one through three after these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great Authority and the earth was illuminated saying fallen fallen is Babylon the Great she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit in a prison of every unclean and hateful bird for all the nations have done what everybody they have drunk of the line of the passion of her in morality they drunk of the passion of the wine of her immorality here's what's very interesting about this idea the the idea is angels letting us know is that Babylon has given people something that they have taken a hold of and put inside of them a drunk of the wine they have done this now I was going to be real with you there was a time I remember I was out with my boys and they said man you've never really had anything to drink before you need to just try a little bit right now nothing hard just just some little stuff I said you know man it's cool I'd only really like the taste let me go ahead and try it and I found out very quickly that I cannot hold my liquor like at all can I get a witness somewhere and so I had some stuff to drink and y'all my head was going every which direction it was spinning to the left it was spinning to the right I mean I could barely stand and when I stood the room was spinning when I sat it was it was staying too still and so my mind was messed up and I went to my boys and I said this I said take me home get me out of here it's like alright Mike man my bad we'll get you home and so here was my thought if I could just get home then everything would be good but here's what happened I got home and when I stood up everything was still spin it and when I sat down it was still too still because the problem was not where I was the problem was what was inside of me and regardless of where I went it was still inside of me and here's the thing I need you to understand that I believe even in our own way of approaching things the devil has got us to misunderstand something about Babylon Babylon it's not simply a place that we go that we need to be called out of but Babylon is something that gets inside of us and changes the way that we think the way that we act the way that we move and you can be inside of the right house and not in your right mind you see some of us have thought that the victory is when we call people out of the places that that that serve the particular drink that causes our minds theological II and all kinds of ways to be messed up but here is the problem I found something you don't even you don't only need to go to the bar to get the drink or not with me so far sometimes you can get drunk go into somebody's house you can buy stuff at the grocery store and so here is what I have discovered about babylon babylon declares unto us i want you to keep thinking it's a place i want you to keep thinking it's the only kind of church because here is the idea we believe that as long as we're in the right place that we're safe and there are some of us in the right place but filled with the wrong stuff drunk as drunk can be but keeping the Sabbath we believe that Babylon is simply a group of denominations that don't have the truth Babylon is a system that has a specific ideology that can infiltrate any place anywhere at any time and this third angel comes up on this scene and makes the announcement of this text that we read earlier if anyone worships the Beast and His image and receives a mark in his hand or his forehead he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger and so when it comes to the book of Revelation it's one of the big questions I get asked all the time pastor when you go preaching the mark of the beast what you gonna do with the market of ease what is the market of these and throughout history we see ourselves in this particular question trying to answer it that at different places in history in time if you remember when when debit cards first came out marketer B's you'll remember your internet comes out mark of the beats they can they can send stuff all over it's all different kinds of of things that we've described as as the mark of the beast I remember there's a group of individuals who would go to Disneyland and they didn't want you know when you leave the park they put a stamp on your hand there are some folks no no don't do that don't do that so some of us have been looked at there are new gadgets if there's new technology some of us look at that as a mark of the beast and there are others of us who have been taught as well that the mark of the beast is simply the day of worship it's a particular day of worship which is not the Sabbath any day of worship in particular Sunday which is not the Sabbath if you are doing that and participating in that then you are experiencing the mark of the beast and so so many different questions with that but John actually gives us I believe the answer to really challenge us to think a little differently and deeper about this understanding of the mark of the beast the imagery that John uses as it being in one's hand once forehead is imagery which is borrowed from the book of Deuteronomy and Exodus in which it applies to faithfulness to God himself now once you go to Exodus 13 and verse 9 Exodus 13 and verse 9 I want to read this to you follow me we're going somewhere with dishes let me lay a little groundwork Exodus 13 and verse 9 and here is what the Bible says and it shall serve as a sign to you as a what to you everybody assigned to you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord may be put in your mouth for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt those would he say he's saying there's gonna be something that's a sign for you that you're carrying with you that's gonna be on your forehead and it's also going to be in your hand this language that he's using here in Revelation it's very specific to the Jews because they had a daily habit every day of binding what is called the Teflon and the Teflon are two small black boxes with black straps attached to them and Jewish Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm each weekday morning that's what they were to do the Teflon our biblical in origin and are commanded within the context of several laws outlining check-check this a Jews relationship to God a relationship is what they understood is the manner in which we think are y'all with me and in our thought process is revealed through the way that we live our lives hence the reason they put the law the teflon of God on their heads symbolizing this is how I think in my hands that my actions will line up with how I'm thinking in other words this idea of a mark in your hand or a mark in your forehead is symbolic of saying who your allegiance is to because the issue of Revelation is not simply the day of which you attend church the issue of Revelation is who is your boo I'm sorry that was that was to Street or too simple for you but that's really what it boils down to who is your but who are you talking to who can you wake up in the morning and you're checking to see their texts who is on your mind most of the time is it God or is it the devil who is it is either one of the two in Revelation shells this particular story about both of these entities being after you and the question is who are you in relationship with so the sea beast watch this of Revelation 13 is a religious system and we know that's a religious system because revelation 13 makes it very clear that this beast calls for worship so it's a religious system that says I want your attention I don't want it on God I want your attention on me and to be sure that's a system don't miss the point it has at its principle and at its core this this system has at its principle at its core the corporate organized expression of the self as center principle that resides beneath the surface of fallen human nature in general self as the center we exalt ourselves above others that's this principle of this system has in other words the self as a center principle is the religion almost of human nature now here's what's crazy in Daniel 7 he's got this dream and it connects really to what John sees in Revelation 13 he has a dream also about some beast I want to look at what Daniel sees in this dream revelation excuse me Daniel chapter 7 and verse 24 Daniel chapter 7 and verse 24 and here's what the Bible says as for the ten horns out of this kingdom ten Kings will arise and another will arise after them and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings and he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the Saints of the highest one and he will intend to make alterations in times and in and they will be given into his hand for a time times and half a time y'all see with me so far so Daniel 7 in Revelation 13 give us characteristics of this system number one this system teaches a merit system of justification or salvation by works render to God in exchange for his favor God if I do this you'll do that that's what the system teaches the system also uses coercion tactics in the name of Christ if you don't do this then this is where your end up if you don't pay this then this is what will take place and this system will also attempt to change God's laws that's what the system will do and when you look throughout history it's very clear and a lot of us maybe noticed it might be new to some of us that this idea of a system that speaks those things and has all those in question is the papal system of wrong and so that's what we do when we preach these kinds of things of the mark of the beast as we sit there and we look at all of the different things that Rome is done and we look particularly at this system and one of the specific laws we look at that has been changed was the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday and we make Noah Bay make no apologies about that in the Catechism and there are slides upon slides that maybe most of us have seen time and time again it's oh ha we get it mark of the beast has to be that day of worship times and laws have been changed and so a lot of our attention when the Pope shows up we get excited and and when the Catholic Church does this we kind of get excited and all that different kind of stuff but Jack Duke on dr. Duke on in his book secrets of Revelation gives us some insight and I need you to follow this we can see the fulfillment of the prophecy and current religious developments sociological psychological or even entertainment concerns are increasingly replacing the worship of God and we even see efforts to standardize the day of worship we're in a practicality or in an ecumenical stance of universal love and unity but these are just symptoms the mark of the beast implies more than a day or form of worship it also involves allegiance to the beast with all its potential for repression conformity and alienation from God they don't catch that the mark of the beast is a system that carries with it certain principles that puts God second and everything else first one of the principles that we talked very clearly about when it comes to this papal system is one of the reasons that they have said that they have changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday is not by any means of scripture but by means of tradition and so here is the concept any system that holds tradition above the word is a system that has principles that are being lived out through the Beast that holds tradition above Scripture now I'm gonna let that sink in for a little bit because we worship on the right day but I'd like to suggest to you right now that there are plenty of us who hold tradition above this and believe because we are worshiping on the right day that the principles of the beast have not infiltrated our way of thinking cielos is uncomfortable because he hears what we like to think our traditions are better our traditions are clearer why cuz we the remnants or any tradition we come up with house to make sense it has to be legit it has to be clear here's all will let you know there are some of our traditions that if they are not found in Scripture and we hold them up above Scripture we are no better and if we're honest y'all if we're honest there's a whole lot of stuff you grew up doing that can't be found here and it's not stuff that we've been doing that can't be found here but here's what we have the nerve and audacity to do to hold people to it as if it is Scripture now get simple with you irony on Sabbath ah don't you lie on the Sabbath why the Bible says where I don't know about it since you say it somewhere if then when we discover that the Bible doesn't say it we say but you know we just got onto the Sabbath and you just got to do it this way and and this way don't cook in and don't do this in oh oh here's what I'll do when you come into the house of God make sure that you put on your best where do you see that in the Bible because I'll tell you how the Bible describes our best filthy rags if you really want to break down with filthy rags or I had debated in the Hebrew filthy rags are the rags that women would use to clean themselves up after their menstrual cycle that's what God says our best is as if somehow walking into his house with a tie in a shirt in a suit makes us somewhat more presentable to the king of the Living God but we will hold to that thing tradition and there's nothing wrong with tradition but there's a problem when tradition becomes viable and that's what this system does they value their traditions their thoughts above the word and when we do that in any kind of area of our lives we are accepting principles from a system that does not put God first and all the time thinking were safe because we're inside of the right denomination now only have we been condemned Tory condemnatory of this system but we've also had a stance that we've taken was very especially what comes in marking the B's that we condemn the people now I want to read to you some counsel that sister White has has given us in regards to this and this this stuff really blew my mind she says this we have far more to fear from within than from without imma keep readin the hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world but let's check what we do we have people inside the church who are the watch guardians of the church making sure every little nook and cranny is right lined up not what's true Scripture but tradition lined up in the right way can't let that in wider because I heard that one time in a club 55 years ago and I don't have this in here why because the movie use the same terminology and we're all worried about what's coming from the outside when the devil has infiltrated lives of people and so what she's saying is y'all are so worried about all these worldly influences and we got stuff we need to deal with right here she continues whatever the papacy happens to be up to the more crucial question is what are we ourselves up to in our daily dealings with one another in our homes churches and conferences you see I wish we would get just as excited about our own business as we do about when the Pope makes a trip and make some announcement or write some kind of letter we lose it we are Facebook posts that are pages long talking about the end is coming because of this that and the other and here is the issue she's saying you can say that the end is coming but with you not checking your own stuff the end can be here and you are not ready she continues and really drives on this point there is need of a much closer study of the Word of God especially should Daniel and revelation have attention as never before in the history of our work we have much we may have excuse me less to say in lines in regard to the Roman power and pay in the papacy did y'all catch that she says if we study deeper Daniel and revelation we wouldn't have more to say about the papacy but less to say in regard to the Roman power papacy but we should call attention to what the prophets and the apostles have written under the inspiration of the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit has soul shaped matters both in the giving of the prophecy and in the events portrayed as to teach that the human agent is to be kept out of sight hid in Christ and the Lord God of heaven are to be exalted and that's why I applaud I don't expect anything less from from my professor who taught me everything I know when it comes to preaching in ministry I don't expect anything less that that that this book of Revelation is not spending all of its time dealing with all of the stuff that historically our church has spent time dealing with and in the process alienated us from other believers here I thought about that we call other Christian denominations unbelievers potatoes right now they might not know everything but they believe in Jesus here is why I believe she makes a statement I need you to follow me very carefully when it comes to the mark of the beast we're always looking without for this mark aren't we we're looking for it all around us and in all of other people but remember if it's not simply relegated to a day but it's a mindset then you can get a certain mindset not only by being in a certain place but also by simply not being connected to God to keep the right mindset its mindset I need you to hear me it's not limited to a day of worship it is not limited to a day of worship there are so many of us who believe we are safe because we're in church on the right day and know everything about the day and know little about the god of the day you must call our attention to the fact that what we see in the system of papacy just in a system is a spirit of domination and self exaltation that all of us are susceptible to and which is just as likely to manifest itself in our church is any warehouse we read the Word of God we discover very clear and simple truth we discover that the man of sin this beast who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God is simply an institutional or corporate manifestation of the inclination listen to me that resides in all human hearts to play God and to usurp his role in our dealings with our fellow human beings with attitudes of superiority tactics of pressure dominance and control and we actually see sometimes those principles carried out in the way that we do Church pressuring people to do this and do that telling people that if you're really a follower of God this is how you'll dress even giving you a list in some places of certain music that you can listen to and it's so interesting I just got to be very frank and straight with this always the music that you're not allowed to listen to seems to be the one that might come from a certain place where people of color are from here is what we have found a lot of times it happens inside a church and I've been guilty of it myself and I'm starting to understand what was really taking place within me we do all different kinds of tactics to kors pressure and get people to be a part of what we're doing we use scare tactics we use fear tactics about the hell and the olders not really hell but you're gonna burn up you know like I get that that there's not hell but being burned up is just as bad in my mind I don't know about you and we'll it will use all this kind of stuff to try and control people into do will will make them feel sometimes even in pulpits will stand up and say well the real spiritual people are here at 9:15 and those of you if you really love Jesus you would be able to wake up and sneak you're trying to pressure people that's not of God the Bible says be ye transformed but he also says in Romans 12 be he not conformed and what some of us don't do to new people is we try to conform them into Christian seventh-day adventists as opposed to letting them walk with Jesus and he transformed them into what they need to be because when you are conformed as soon as there is no longer pressure that word schizo might ease Oh pressure as long as there is no more pressure they go back to what they originally were but when you are transformed something takes place from the inside out that there is no pressure no conformity necessary because now you are a new person in Christ Jesus and it's subtle coercion and conformity through well this is what it says and and you better do it in all this different kind of stuff now I'm gonna tell you this right now God does not want us simply because it says so he wants us because we want to want him and because I want you whatever you say so I'll do because I want you if that makes sense when you say Amen but this mark is not simply brought about from a religious system but there's a political system at work as well the lamb beasts I want to read this so I wrote it the lamb beast will enact laws to violate Liberty of conscience as you all hear that laws to violate Liberty of conscience and thus become the facilitating political engine that will bring upon the world a crisis of individual conscience and character this political system now brings a crisis that will challenge us in conscience and character pressures will be brought to bear upon humanity what are some of those pressures if you don't worship you won't be able to buy or sell or your file - that will drive every person on earth to act out their picture of God and manifest the spirit that actuates them I think I'll miss that you see the reason God allows the beast to get to this point in this system to do what it's going to do is because when the pressure comes your character will come out who you really are comes out see right now it's cool we can do all this stuff without the worry of anything but the question is when the pressure comes not just from the religious system but now it's combined with the political system and the backing of laws are behind it we'll really see who's really walking with Jesus during that final crisis every person on earth will move in one of two directions only to to sacrifice self for the preservation of Liberty for all others or aligned with the pavis Pepa sees newly reconstituted coercion machine in an effort to preserve self at the expense of others the true contents of every heart are going to come forth y'all under the pressures entailed in the mark of the beast crisis the contents of our heart and this is why understanding the prophecy is so much more than understanding dates and having to do calculus to understand what it is to be a part maybe of the message that we're teaching it's a hard issue that all of these things no matter how much we know do not deal with there's only one individual who deals with the heart and that is Jesus and sometimes he's getting lost in this the idea is that religion is spirituality now check this will be legislated by joining of a religious system with a political one and here's what they're going to do they will try to determine our conscience through fear and law you can determine your conscience through fear in law and while reading this you really can't help but think of something else that took place Daniel Chapter three three boys having their own particular beliefs a religious system now emerges with a political system under Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar now takes whatever religiosity that he has and combines it with law and makes a declaration this image of gold is now a decree that when you hear the sackbut psaltery or timbrel and all that all different kinds of music he's all here's what you're gonna have to be able to do you gonna have to bow down or else you will face the fire fiery furnace and so the music begins to play and here's the thing that's really crazy everyone bowels down except three Hebrew boys and they were placed in a challenge where law was gonna reveal what their conscience was and here's what's even crazier about theirs I did some further study had they bowed down there were no other Church folk there so they could have done it and still not being caught up by everybody else but they were not concerned about what others thought they were concerned about what God thought and so they stood firm and fast because all they really had allegiance to was revealed in that moment of pressure but here is the thing that is so interesting about that that even in that moment of pressure they had one thing that the beasts tried to take away from them the ability to choose God always kept that ability in their life you can choose what you want to do but because they were so in love with Christ Christ didn't need to make a similar decree in order for them to choose right can I make you a little uncomfortable certain laws were okay with being passed aren't we we're okay with telling people that although we don't agree with your decision to marry someone of the same sex we don't believe you should be able to although we think that all life is precious and I believe that 100% we believe that it's important for there to be a law to dictate your conscience of what you should and should not do now we love those laws because they stand for what we believe but here's the thing that I've learned about God God never takes away our freedom to choose and respects our decision to make the wrong choice did you know that God respects I'm a quote my pastor our stupid choices he respects them and it's so interesting to me the things I hear a saying about no they shouldn't be able to do this and yes this law should be this and yes this law should be that and we're doing all of that against others and they'll come a time when the same type of system will now infiltrate us any law that takes away freedom of choice and forces someone to do something is not of God God doesn't force us to do anything he does not force us to do anything and here's the reason why Christ does not need to force us to do anything because he understands that only love awakens love it's a crisis I don't need to put a law in place he says even my laws that I have in place I'm not forcing you to do he says I'm gonna just let you know something that when you love me these are the things that just happen in the loving relationship salia to force you to do I'll need a chorus she did do it here's all I want you to do I want you to be connected with me and you're gonna start to see things happen in your life as a result of being in love with me I don't need the force I'm just gonna be in relationship but any system that tries to force ochres is not a system of God it's a system of the Beast it's a mentality of the Beast and there are some of us who are trying to force things on people and that is not of God and I've learned here's what part of the issue is we don't trust the power of God we just don't revelation 13 informs us that the American experiment experiment with Liberty will eventually be overturned the lamb beast will enact laws to violate Liberty of conscience and thus become the facilitating political engine that will bring upon the world a crisis of individual conscience in character I want to say that again individual conscience and character the people who stand in faithfulness to God against the Beast system are very specifically described as those who overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death and as those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus said another way watch this their picture of God is grounded in self-sacrificing love revealed in Christ at Calvary producing I need you all to catch this voluntary faith motivated harmony with God's law voluntary faith motivated harmony with God's law and this is the reason why I believe there is a shift that's taking place in this church that is frightening some that we almost believe that we're moving away from the things of God and the laws of God in the standards of God and that is not what is taking place here is what I think we're starting to find as we dig into the Scriptures more and more and more that those standards we have no power to uphold without the relationship without it you can know everything you need to know and still follow because it's not simply knowledge of stuff but it's knowledge of the person who then empowers you to live the stuff so don't be afraid no one's doing away with any of that stuff but we're saying there's a cart that comes before the horse therefore the inner landscape of their theology about God and their experience with God leads them to lay down their lives if necessary to before to preserve liberty of conscience for all for them self is secondary to the other for such is the love they have seen and received in Christ so this is what Ellen White is getting at I believe when she brilliantly brilliantly states this justification by faith is the third angel's message in Verity but some of y'all miss that can see when we read that third angels message we're not seeing justification by faith in are we but she says it is the third angels message in Verity and here's the reason why because she understood something that we with all of our turn all of our time here on earth with all of the knowledge and stuff that we've been exposed to here's what she understood the mark of the beast will come upon the world as a workspace selfish center liberating Liberty violating religious enforcement based on a false picture of God's character whereas the theology and the experience of those who stand in resistance against the mark of the beast will lead them to do so precisely because they know God's favor is not earnable and that his law is not enforceable in other words they understand that coercion kills love and that justification by faith is inextricably intertwined with liberty of conscience are you all hearing me you see when you have a works based understanding of God now and you apply that when the end times come bowing down to the Beast is working out your salvation and it will be easy for us and some of us think oh no no no I know it's a day I know it's a day I know today but it's at your core you have not accepted this idea of being justified by Christ through faith it will be easy to transition because some of us believe the way that we're saved is by keeping this day this is also why she says this and warns against any exercise of domination by church leaders okay okay can I be rhino's 115 y'all probably get out there it's way way your earlier but can I just get a few more moments here now let's check this out this is also why she warns only against any exercise of domination by church leaders so let me help some of us out with this marketer bee sting when you threaten your withholding of tithe until you get what you want at a church that's the spirit of the beast dominate control do all that different kind of stuff I sometimes got members at my church analysis so funny said pastor I really had to to listen to what these people were saying because they they they starting to threaten a little bit you know there was over a hundred thousand dollars worth of time in that potluck room and I said well that's cool and I appreciate that but i'ma tell you there's a God that we serve owns a cattle on a Thousand Hills and we cannot use coercion and domination even as church leaders to influence what we want that's why y'all got to be careful when nominating committee comes around and all this back politicking and all that kind of stuff trying to use dominance to get your way and move forward not only is that not of God it is strictly of the beast all different kind of conferences and stuff in and feeling empowered to just move this person here and do all the different causes up there and doing all those kinds of things I want to tell you carefully you can be in the right place in the right time and still have the principles of the beast being lived out in your life and so she warns against that she says the inclination to control others is the core principle of the papal system the inclination to control others the core the papal system those who operate by this principle are following in the track of Rome and thus preparing themselves and those they lead to abandon others to save self when the mark of the beast is in force and we thought it was just a day it's more than a day it's more than a mark to mindset that if I can just be frank with all of us today that a lot more of us have than we would care to admit and it's a very scary and sobering thought because we've just looked at these other folk as just not having it we've got it where the remnants got it all we're fine we're we're in the right denomination we're in the right place but we don't have the right and because of that I've said of a former state again we have treated our other brothers and sisters in Christ in a way that is not in harmony with what this book says sometimes because someone's a part of another denomination some of us won't even allow them to sing in our churches now reminded very clearly that the disciples ramp to Jesus is Jesus Jesus there's some other folk they're casting out demons but but but they're not with us and he says well are they are they against us he said no he said then then they're with us I want to read this to you it's from dr. Pauline's book Armageddon at the door I love what he says and I'm closing with this in the terrible trials at the end such Saints I need you to hear this will not necessarily be organized in institutional terms the legal and corporate structures in which the people of God have gathered themselves will be the first thing targeted by the forces of the evil at the end but the destruction of the Saints spiritual institutions will not hinder the movement in the final crisis now let me tell you why that might have made some of you uncomfortable because you see we have shifted from being a movement to an institution because what he's saying here is not that there's nothing unimportant about the institution not that there's necessarily there things can be wrong with the institution there can be some things wrong with the institution but here is his point don't be worried when we can't organize like this don't be worried that when you baptize someone there's not a clerk that you can send it into don't be worried about that he says because even when the forces of law start to cut us off from being able to have these kinds of amenities and inside of our 501c3 status as conferences and all that stuff he says you can take all that away he's saying the core of who we are is not an institution it's a movement that is grounded in the Word of God and that's how we started and that's how we'll finish truly he says a remnant drawn from every nation tribe tongue and religious tradition they will recognize each other when they meet because of a common walk with God they will develop deep and meaningful relationships with each other because they share a common battle to maintain a relationship with Jesus and to be ready for the events of the end we'll all come together and recognize if there's something common about us we walk with Jesus and up to that point I know you walked a little differently in you walked a little differently but now that we've come to the end it's gonna be clear and whether there's an institution or not or whether there's an organized institution or not we will all be a part of a movement and what does that move it that movement is the Word of God and the second coming of Jesus Christ and what I would like for us to do is prepare for that movement by becoming a movement again movements move they don't stay static and start pointing their fingers at everybody else who is in a part of their institution they move and they do things that nobody else is doing the civil rights movement change the world movements a movement that even that times of the final crisis cannot stop if we keep looking simply at this day we keep looking at this mark of the beast is something that we can't get because we're in the right place there will be a part of a movement it'll just be the wrong one so my challenge to you today is there literally is only one way that you can avoid this beast mindset this mark of the beast' mindset which hopefully i hope you've heard today it's not simply a day but it's a mindset that once you grab ahold of infiltrate your actions actions in which you put tradition above the Word of God actions in which you put self above God actions and with which you are self-centered and not self-sacrificing actions in which you try and pressure people and control people there is only one way that you can escape that and Paul kind of sums it up he says let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus in the only way that you can have that mind is to stop worrying about what's happened in the papacy worrying about what everybody else is doing and focus on you knowing who God is for your self and when I say for yourself using me I'm just talking to you now some of us need to put away these devotionals you put it away and stop always getting somebody else's thoughts on what God is saying and some of us need to just simply get the pure unadulterated Word of God in your own closet and you just looked at this thing and allowing God to pour into your life who he is and finding that for yourself and when you discover who he is imma tell you you are gonna find that you have never met anybody like him because there are some of us who have been in the church and still have not yet met Jesus you haven't met him yet but when you meet him you will find that he is the best thing that's ever happened to you when you meet him you'll find that he is the source of all of your strength in all of your life and apart from him you can do nothing and are nothing and so today somebody needs to meet Jesus and maybe you need to meet him again or you need to meet him for the first time and so my first appeal is gonna be for somebody who has never met Jesus before you've kind of heard a little bit about him and maybe you've been coming here to know a little bit more about them but today you really want a formal introduction and you want us to set you helped you set up on your first date with Jesus so my appeal is not for you to get baptized right now here's all I want you to do I just want you to commit today to going on a blind date with Jesus because here's all one that you know at this church Takoma Park we can't make you fall in love with God but we can set you up on date so you can fall in love with him and there's some folk here some elders and some really good people that want to know who you are and here's why we want to know who you are because we want to set you up on the right day and what's gonna happen is you're gonna start getting to know him and you're gonna be with him and and he's gonna stop dropping crazy lines and you like come unto me all ye their labor and a heavy burden and I will give you rest to start saying things like for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life as a matter of fact Jesus might even be in some of our minds a little appropriate because before we even got together he's already got a house that he wants us to live in with and then one day he's gonna propose to you except he doesn't get on his knees but he gets on a cross and says will you marry me and I believe there's somebody here that when you start dating Jesus one day you're gonna accept that proposal but here's the only commitment I'm asking you make today in the balcony down here if you want to just meet Jesus and start the date datum just get to know who he is I want you to come out of your seat and I want you to come down to the front I want you to take my hand but I want you to give God your heart if that's you out here man woman boy or girl you you you just want to you just want to meet him you you you want to get to know him and that's the only commitment I'm asking you to make today if you have not done that before that's what I want you to do that's my first appeal and then here's my second appeal there's some of us here that have just been coming to church you just been going through the motions of church but you really don't know who Christ is you just don't know who he is and some of us know him as an acquaintance so let's kind of know him because we read and hear a little bit about him but but today you're really saying God no I don't know you I don't go no screw you we're not intimate together but today you're saying god yes I'm in this church and yes I'm keeping Sabbath and all that but got the end of the day I know that I just don't know you the way I need to know you and this is a bold appeal and I'm not asking for you to do this because it's time to end to make me feel better or because you want to stretch but if there is somebody here today that wants to make a public declaration that you know what I've been a part of church but I have not been a part of Christ and I just want to recommit myself to him I'm not gonna ask you to come to the front but I'm asking you to stand where you are I want you to stand where you are if you stay seated it's because you're saying pastor praise God I'm already there and I know that's a bold decision to make god bless you sister and then somebody else it needs to come forward we want you to come if you've never met him if you're saying I've been in church but haven't really been in Christ and I want to be in him I want you to stand if you're seated it's because you are in Christ and our prayers that you're going to stay there growing him but don't sit if you're just worried about what other people think because that self at the center god bless you we're just making decisions today god bless you and the reason I want you to stand is because I want the devil to take note I want him to know very clearly that there's a group of individuals that are making a commitment to know God better to know him deeper and more intimately now if you need to know him for the first time I want you to come down here to the front but if you have already been a part of this but you just want to take your commitment away from all simply the things of God and commit to God himself I want you to I want you to do that I want you to do that god bless you god bless you god bless you great decision great decision bold bold decision god bless you praise God for you I want to wait a few more moments are some who maybe still need to stand and there are others are still need to come down but sometimes you hear at this point they say the doors of the church are open I'm not gonna say that the arms of Christ are open arms of Christ because he is the head of this thing he is the head of this thing but if you need to give it to God for the first time I want you to come down just get us some dates with him and and maybe if you're hearing this thing but you're not in a full relationship with him I want you to stand and I'm gonna give you some sometimes you just hear the piano let the Holy Spirit talk to you but make that move balcony come down if you need to stand if you need to don't let this moment pass you by without knowing what God has been preparing you for up to this point I just want to wait because I have instructions from God that there's somebody else who needs to make some commitments in one of these two categories and I just want to be patient with him to be a little more patient with the Holy Spirit he asked us to be a little more patient with yeah I want to close it because I know we're hungry but God just asked me to hold it open just a little bit more because if somebody needs to stand or there's someone who needs to come forward if I knew who you were I'd run up to you and say it's the best decision you've ever made in your entire life I see a couple of you are just struggling you are not a bigger sinner than Jesus is a savior I promise you that somebody saying well pastor let me get myself together before this first date don't you worry about it come exactly as you are come exactly as you are so if you need to come down and get with Christ for the first time can you do that if you neither stand and really make a commitment to follow him I want you to stand I'm gonna give you just a few more moments to do so it's your choice but it's the best choice I promise that you'll make it's the best choice there's a God that just loves you so much he knows what you've been through he knows what you're about to go through and he just knows that if if you all can do it together everything will be okay everything will be okay he just wants permission to be that in your life you can't force himself upon you he's asking for permission you coming forward or standing is giving him permission to do that god bless you I see you see you stand-in I see you see some book rocking just a little bit just surrender just surrender surrender in this moment just surrender this moment just like surrender in this moment to lose all right let's pray father you are the answer you are the center you are the key you are everything and it's your love that constrains us it's your love that wears the sounds your love that compels us and God the only way that we can understand and appreciate love is through relationship not relationship with things or theological facts or truths but relationship with the God of those truths and of those facts and so God there are some individuals who have been walking in church but they haven't been walking in you and it's so sad that nowadays there's a difference between the two because there never was but God now we've understood that we've got to have you in our minds and in our hearts because when you get there then what comes out of us is a reflection of what's in us and God we understand that that this beast principle doesn't just want us to be in it in a location but it wants to be in us and that's why there's a battle even that Paul talks about this battle of the flesh that exalts self above others but then this battle of the Spirit that puts self secondary in Christ primary and that battle is waging and we actually have the the say-so and who's gonna be victorious simply by who we allow access to it's Oh God today we have made a commitment some of us for the second time that we are committing to allow Jesus and Jesus alone access to our beam and how we move and how we think and everything about us and God for some of us who are worried well what does that mean Oh God walk with Jesus we'll be like Jesus and we know what the word says so we all need to saturate and innovate people with all these things you better do because God I trust that when they're with you what they'll do will be the fruits of abiding in you and they got I pray for the individuals who have come forward who said you know I'd like to go on some dates with Jesus I pray God that the individuals here at this church will set them up on the right date that they'll get to know you more than they've known anybody before and that as they see your beauty as they see your holiness as they see your wonderfulness and the care that you have for your their lives that they will just fall completely and totally deeper in love with you than they ever have before and then god I pray for that day this crisis is taking place and it looks like we're about to lose sky is gonna roll back like a scroll I'll be a cloud the size of a man's hand and you'll just be riding victorious not on clouds but angels in you lift up that robe and there'll be a little something tattooed on your leg king of kings and Lord of lords and you'll come back to save those who've made a decision to follow you wherever you go and it just so happens this time you're going to the earth made new so father we love you we praise you and we thank you in Jesus name that everyone say in the Amen you may be

Channel: Takoma Park SDA Church

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Length: 81min 58sec (4918 seconds)

Published: Mon May 09 2016